ARTICLES ABOUT HOME PLATE BY DATE - PAGE 2

MESA, Ariz. — Eli Whiteside understands as well as anyone why Major League Baseball is changing the rules governing collisions at home plate. But he's not sure how those changes will be enforced and what they'll mean for him and his fellow Cubs catchers. "We tried to work on it a little bit out there, but we didn't really know what to do," Whiteside said Monday before MLB announced the rule changes. Under the new guidelines, umpires may call a runner safe if a catcher blocks the plate without possession of the ball, and a runner can be called out if he deviates from his path to home plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher or another player covering home plate.

MESA, Ariz. - The Cubs will conduct their first sliding drill Wednesday under the rule changes designed to prevent collisions at home plate. “Runners will assume to be sliding as opposed to thinking they can go in standing up,” manager Rick Renteria said after attending a meeting Monday that explained the changes in which he said a runner can't lead with his hands, elbows or upper torso to go after a catcher. Meanwhile, catcher John Baker applauded the changes that he said were similar to the NCAA rules he played under at California in 2000-02, adding that umpires have the option of using instant replay to review the play.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An experimental rule aimed at averting dangerous home plate collisions has been adopted for the upcoming Major League Baseball season, MLB and the Players Association jointly announced on Monday. The rule prohibits a baserunner from deviating from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher, while the catcher will not be allowed to block home plate before catching the ball. Baserunners found to have gone out of their way to initiate contact will be called out, and will be called safe and awarded a run if home plate is blocked by a defensive player without possession of the ball.

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Even the masters of the rules had to admit the ending to Saturday's Game Three of the World Series was well out of the ordinary. An obstruction ruling at third base turned an apparent double play that would send the contest into extra innings into a sudden 5-4 walk-off win for the St. Louis Cardinals and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Asked if they had ever seen a game end in this manner, let alone a World Series game, the umpires' answers came quickly.

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals slugger Allen Craig is available if needed for Game 4 of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, manager Mike Matheny said Sunday. X-rays on Craig's left ankle were negative. Craig, who missed the final 3 1/2 weeks of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs, had to be helped off the field after running from third to home plate for the winning run on a wacky play Saturday night in the bottom of the ninth inning. "We're going to wait and see how he feels when he gets out here," Matheny said.

ST. LOUIS - The Cardinals turned potentially decisive leads into harrowing and entertaining sequences Saturday night in Game 3 of the World Series. Much of that stemmed from their inability to capitalize on rallies in the fourth and seventh innings. But that set up the zaniest finish, as Allen Craig was awarded home plate on an obstruction call on Will Middlebrooks at third base after an errant throw from catcher Jarrod Saltalamachia with two outs in the ninth gave the Cardinals a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox and a 2-1 series lead.